Hide Your Face so the world will never find you
by Phantom'sChristine
Summary: Mary Hannah is a teenage girl living in somewhat modern Paris, who has always dreamed of visiting the great Opera House. Now she has her chance, at the Masked Ball. But, of course, something goes wrong..
1. Preparations

**Disclaimer: I do not own the masterpiece that is The Phantom of the Opera, or Erik, Christine, Raoul, etc. I do however own the character Mary Hannah, the song "One Kind of Love", and some random characters, lol.**

**Dedication: I have named my main character after one of my friends. D tee hee….but mostly, the story is dedicated to the tortured genius Erik.**

ooooooo000000000000000oooooooooooooo000000000000000oooooooooooo0000000

The Opera House was well worn-out. Steins, vandalism, cracks and holes filled the walls. But to Mary Hannah, it was still beautiful.

Mary Hannah was only fifteen years of age, but she was quite talented. She excelled in the music department with her lovely flute, and singing voice, and she was an excellent dancer. It had always been her dream to visit the well-known Paris Opera House, and now was her chance.

They were rein acting the Masquerade of so many years ago! Oh, it was a dream come true! The great hall was already being prepared for that night. And it was Mary Hannah's job to help clean up the place. As soon as she entered the room, she was given a broom and a magic duster. She smiled at the person who had given her these tools, and happily started to hum the tune of "One Kind of Love."

She pranced around the room, more dancing than walking, and made her way up to the steps. She swept and dusted countless times, but the steps didn't seem to be getting any cleaner. Finally giving up on the steps, she jumped down the steps two at a time until she was on steady ground. She swept there until her area was nearly shining.

"Mary?" a sudden voice called out.

"Yes?" Mary Hannah turned round, loose strands of hair hanging in her eyes.

"You're all done here. Why don't you help make the banners?" it was a woman dressed in all black. She looked to be about 23. She was very pretty. Her hair was shoulder-length, and blonde. Her eyes were big and blue, and shining, as if she were smiling, but it seemed as if she never chose to wear a smile on her face. Her nametag said cheerfully "Hello, my name is: Jo"

"Alright," Mary said, smiling again. She tossed her magic duster and broom and headed over to the other side of the room, where a few people were gathered, working on a banner.

The banner they were working on was black, with gold letters. They were simply going to write "Masquerade" on it with the big shining letters. An elderly man was applying glue to the back of the letters, and Mary Hannah's job was to place them neatly on the banner, so that none of the letters were crooked.

Hours passed. Everyone was tired, but Mary Hannah tried to stay cheerful and lighten everyone up. She pranced about the halls and went on humming, smiling at random people who passed her and talking about tomorrow night's Masquerade.

When finally the work was done, Mary Hannah excused herself to the ladies room. She hadn't gotten the chance to stop at the bathroom since she'd gotten there! She was surprised that male & female restrooms were there…and decided that they must have been built in recently. She found herself wondering what used to be here, before the restrooms were built in.

When she was done, she looked at herself in a mirror for the first time in hours. She almost laughed at her own reflection. Her hair, which was pulled back in a ribbon, was dusty, and her clothes were dirty as well. The seat of her jeans were gray from sitting on the dusty floor, and her shirt was covered with almost every kind of dirt and filth imaginable. She quickly washed her face, and pulled her hair down from it's ribbon. Her dark brown hair spilled out and onto her shoulders. She smiled at her reflection, thinking of how she would look at the Masked Ball, in that long elegant gown...

"Mary!" Jo's voice echoed in the small room.

"Yes?" Mary Hannah looked at the door. Jo was standing in the doorway, looking at her.

"You can go home now. We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for all your hard work."

"Thank you." Mary Hannah smiled and walked out the door, past Jo. She took a look around the room that she had just helped decorate. It was beautiful. She couldn't wait for tomorrow to come...

ooooooo000000000000000oooooooooooooo000000000000000oooooooooooo0000000

**A/N: sorry this is so short...i'm being rushed! I am trying to update all of my other fanfics, AND start new ones, lol. gimme some comments, please! even flames if you want...i can use some critisizm, lol.**


	2. The Masked Ball

**Disclaimer: I do not own the masterpiece that is The Phantom of the Opera, or Erik, Christine, Raoul, etc. I do however own the character Mary Hannah, Jo, the song "One Kind of Love", and some random characters, lol.**

ooooooo000000000000000oooooooooooooo000000000000000oooooooooooo0000000

Mary Hannah looked at herself in the mirror. She felt-and looked-gorgeous. Her dress was gold, with two stripes of black circling her stomach and lower back. It was low-cut, and had thin straps. It was very thin, accentuating how thin _she _was. The bottom was all frills, but not too big, and the frills were cut shorter in the front.

Her hair was down, in curls. It was very nice, a bit bouncy but not too much. And her mask was her favorite part! It was simply black, with feathers painted gold. She had long black gloves, also.

She was wearing very thick black eye makeup, even though no one would really see it until the "after-party." Her lips were painted a strange mixture of silver and gold, making them shine. She dusted light powder on her face.

"Mary Hannah? Are you ready, dear?" her mother called.

"Yes, mother! In just a moment!" she grabbed her matching handbag and raced to her mother. She was so excited and nervous. The moment they arrived at the Opera House, she jumped out, surprisingly not tripping on her heels, and jumped around waiting for her mother.

"What are you waiting for me for? Go have a good time!" her mother laughed. Mary Hannah stopped to look at her mother's dress. It was beautiful. The gown came down to her feet, almost completely covering her toes. It was black and white, with streaming silver streaks. Simply gorgeous.

Mary Hannah smiled and ran into the Opera House, not even taking the time to look at its beauty like she usually would. There were so many people inside! Everyone was dressed in black and gold, or white. She could not tell who was who, and that was the beauty of this Masked Ball! She immediately started dancing along with everyone else, and singing along to their songs, even though she had no idea what the words were.

_Masquerade! Paper faces on parade!_

_Masquerade…look around, there's another mask behind you!_

_Masquerade! Every face a different Shade!_

_Masquerade…hide your face, so the world will never find you…_

A young man wearing all black approached her. His mask was simply a cheap plastic black that was just big enough to cover his eyes. "Would you like to dance?"

Mary Hannah laughed. "I am dancing already, am I not?" she loved messing with guys.

"Umm…yes. But would you like to dance _with me_?"

"There you go!" she giggled and took his hand as he held his out to her. They began to dance, spinning about the room. She didn't know how long. It seemed like an hour. Maybe longer. Then he took her toward the far end of the room, where a small booth held drinks and food.

"Do you want a drink?" he offered her some champagne.

"Umm…I'm only fifteen," Mary Hannah said.

"They won't get after you, you know…" he laughed.

"Okay, sure." She took the glass. "So, what's your name anyway?"

"Paul." He said, smiling.

"Paul?" she sounded shocked. She'd never met a _Paul _before.

"What's your name?"

"Mary Hannah."

"_Mary Hannah?" _he mimicked her shocked sound.

"Oh, stoppit!" she hit him playfully.

"Would you like more to drink?" Paul asked, noticing that she was done.

"No thank you." Suddenly there was a tap at her shoulder. She turned to see another young man, dressed in a white suit with a matching white mask. Well, half of the mask was white. The other half was black.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked.

Mary Hannah looked back to Paul and raised her eyebrows inquisitively. Paul pointed his head toward the boy, as if to say yes. Mary Hannah turned back to him and held out her hand of acceptance.

The Albino Mask led her to the middle of the room and they began to dance. Albino Mask was a much better dancer than Paul, she couldn't help but notice. After more dancing, they pulled over to the same spot for a drink.

Two champagne glasses later, Mary Hannah was back dancing with Paul. He was asking her all about Albino Mask, who she never learned the name of.

"Who was that?" Paul asked.

"I don't know! He never told me his name." Mary Hannah giggled.

"Did you ask?"

"Well…no."

"Was he a good dancer?"

"Yes he was."

"Am I a good dancer?"

"You're a good dancer. Am I a good dancer?"

"You're a great dancer." He planted a soft kiss on her cheek and she giggled. He pulled away and looked at her. "I think you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk." She said flatly.

"Oh, you're not, are you?" he smiled.

"No! I can't be, I'm only fifteen."

"What's with you and 'I'm only fifteen?' we're in Paris, love!" they started to dance at a faster pace.

"I'm tired." Mary Hannah said, after a bit more dancing.

"Let's take a break." He led her to the far corner of the room again, where they found her mother.

"This is my mother," Mary Hannah said, introducing them. "Mother, this is Paul."

"Hello, Paul." Mary Hannah's mother said cheerfully, shaking Paul's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Paul poured the two girls a drink, and they accepted with a kind _thank-you_. He whispered into Mary Hannah's ear: "What number is this, love?"

"Four." She whispered right back.

"Oh, no! You'd better stop now, you're only fifteen!" he said playfully. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes I am."

"Would you like to dance some more?"

"Yes!" she raced out into the middle of the floor, where they were again singing that song, that song that she did not recognize, that song that she loved.

_Masquerade! Paper faces on parade!_

_Masquerade…look around, there's another mask behind you!_

_Masquerade! Every face a different Shade!_

_Masquerade…hide your face, so the world will never find you…_

Suddenly, there was a pause. The lights went dark, and a figure in red appeared on the steps. Mary Hannah had no idea what was going on. Paul laughed lightly. "Finally. I was wondering when the Red Death would appear."

_Red Death? What? What's going on? _Mary Hannah looked at everyone. They had amused looks glued to their faces.

The "Red Death" began to step down, slowly.

_Why so silent, good Monsieur's? _

_Did you think that I had left you…_

_For good?_

She looked at Paul. "What's this about?"

"Remember the Opera Ghost? It's just a little…skit, I guess you could say. To make jokes at him."

"The Opera Ghost?" In all her knowledge of the Opera House, Mary had _never _heard of the Opera Ghost! Well, it wasn't that hard to believe. Not many people knew of him. The government had tried to hide the secret for _years_. Can you blame them? The fact that O.G. got away with the things he did made them look like absolute _fools_.

She looked back to the Red Death. He was getting closer, closer, closer. It seemed that he was talking directly to her!

_Why so silent, Mademoiselle? _

_Did you think that I had left you…_

_For good?_

ooooooo000000000000000oooooooooooooo000000000000000oooooooooooo0000000

**A/N: oooh, cliffhanger! lol keep reading, gimme comments please!**


End file.
